Quite an interesting short read, all down to price and Steam home page coverage, taken from here:
Originally posted by MCV
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I brought it after voting for it added it to my basket then forgot to check out, when I remembered it was still dirt cheap so made the purchase anyway.
I tended to vote for the bigger discounts and cheaper titles, because I would rather have a bit library than a few games.
the more tempting purchases are the indie/arty games.
price is a factor for me and even though I may only play each game for a hour or so, its nice to have the diversity in the library. -
I still think this is going to come and bite indies in the ass at some pointComment
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It doesn't really affect large publishers in the slightest.
Pixeljunk will release their next game, $10 and first thing people will say is, I'll buy it when it's 90% off like their previous game was.
Wonder how many copies it sold at the reduced price?
They speak about that at all?Comment
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There are a bunch of things going on here. I don't think it would have sold as well had it not been $10 in the first place - it wasn't just the price, it was the reduction. And as Family Fry points out, while they have won here it could well have an affect on future sales. And this sort of thing devalues games generally. Some games don't suffer from that but most will. There just aren't that many Angry Bird successes to be had. I can't remember what the figure is at now (someone here probably knows it?) but the cost to secure a single purchase on the iOS App Store was worked out at a few quid in marketing and advertising and was rising when the price of games is around 99c or free. So bottom line is that you pay more to get a sale than they pay you to buy the game.
Real success on the App Store is pretty much dependent on being featured prominently by Apple and its a whim. That's too fragile for sustainability and I can see Steam going down that road too only it has a much bigger knock-on effect because it includes what up to now have been premium full priced games (yep, I know PixelJunk Eden isn't one of them).
I guess the market is really challenging right now and people are looking at all kinds of options to secure sales. I can understand that but it feels like this is a very shaky route.Comment
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Its just small priced impulse buying, helped by the fact that the game is reputable.
I imagine loads of games see the same boost in sales when steam slash the price and place it on the homepage.
Not surprising, see apple.
Out of all the games i bought in the winter sale on steam, i will probably only play a couple through.
The reason for that is because of the amount of reduction, and that feeling that i would be missing out if i didn't purchase...whenever i see sales in the ballpark of 75%, or more, off something that is genuinely decent...i usually bite.Last edited by PaTaito; 02-01-2014, 23:05.Comment
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That reduction is the very reason I don't buy stuff anymore, because it's Steam and there's always a god damn sale for every season.
If I miss it the holiday sale, OH NO whatever am I going to do? 75% off was a bargain as well.
Well I will just wait a few months for the easter sale/spring sale or I can wait a few months after and we get a summer sale, hell even a few months later it's Halloween sale. A year later and it's winter sale time again.
Too many sales Steam, we are now finding that people shop around them specifically, they hold out for the sales. Meaning you are decreasing your sales at launch.
Valve couldn't give a **** as they take 30% no matter what the price is, so they will always be happy.
When all these Greenlit games eventually pop onto Steam developers will find Steam is no longer the life blood it used to be and getting money back from development has become harder than it used to be.Comment
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I blame ios game pricing for starting it all off.Comment
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When it's that cheap, people will buy any highly rated game, just in case they play it. I bet 90% of people that got it cheap will never play it. Similar to games with gold and freebies on PSN - everyone will grab them just in case, so marketing says "wow millions are downloading these - what a success" and continue. It's great that they made loads of income, but it doesn't seem like a long term viable plan to me.Comment
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Yes it seems most Steam users buy so so much stuff they never play once the see the word SALE on the homepage.
Probably same with PS+, anyone know if devs get a flat fee for having their game on PS+ or x amount per download etc.
And as per Brad, Apple have a lot to answer for re pricing and the $0.99 element.Comment
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I went to buy Dishonoured last night as it was 3 or 4 quid only to be told I'd already bought it. Kinda says it allComment
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Can't argue with comments made already. I've played maybe 3 of the 50 games I've bought either from Steam directly or via Humble/Indie bundles.
I look at is this way: if I go to McDs for a coffee rather than Starbucks I've saved enough to get another game from Steam and put some cash into an indie publisher's hands. I'll never buy full price PC games because it's not my platform of choice. Me buying them discounted is a purchase I wouldn't make otherwise.
If I had a point at the start of this post, I've lost it now...Comment
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Most games that get reduced to the ballpark of 75% or more off, have usually been out quite a while though.
Its not like its 90% off after a few weeks on sale, its nearly 2 years old.Last edited by PaTaito; 03-01-2014, 20:42.Comment
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I always associate the games that are on iOS/Android being a little like the games you used to get on home computers like Spectrum. You could often pick them up for 50p to maybe ?2-3 and while there was some great games and ideas back then you got lots of dubious quality. I think your right though to compete Steam and well everyone else has done big discounts quicker and lower than in previous iterations. I think that the indies probably get decent coverage from doing these huge price reductions as it gets their game noticed on the front of the store which is what is important. If they make less/ more doing this in actual money they would get over the games lifetime I am not sure. I guess the way they can see it is people who may have ripped off a copy may buy in a sale but people who are keen on the game have probably bought a copy at full price. The only issue you may have is if you have a title that is a slow burner and continues to make a good amount after initial release. I doubt you get that much though.Comment
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I still buy games from Steam at full price if they are big releases I know about before hand, but it's the small indie titles I tend to only get in the sales. It isn't really that the games are suddenly 75% off either, it's the sudden interest on forums that get me. A game completely unknown to me suddenly gets a thread on NeoGaf or whatever with tonnes of people saying "omg one of the best games of year n is now ?1 you must buy this". So I do.
And then never play it.
I find the good indie titles don't get enough hype or forum chatter to register with me, but these massive sales suddenly bring the games to my attention. That can only be a good thing, right?
The major indie titles like Braid or Bastion did get to me on day one\full price, so there are exceptions.Comment
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